If Queen Victoria had been able to put her beloved Balmoral on rails, she might
have christened it The Royal Scotsman. This luxury hotel train, which majestically
steams through the fabled Scottish Highlands, travels back in time to the
age of the regal Victorians. For five days perfectly-appointed antique carriages,
restored and modernized to their original splendor, are home to a maximum of 32 travelers
who are attended by a tartan-dressed staff that could easily serve the occupants
of Buckingham Palace.

The 1000-mile journey begins in Edinburgh on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons
from May through October. The train, painted in royal burgundy livery, makes its
way across the lowlands to Glasgow, ascends into the Highlands, passes through
the central mountains and descends to the coastline of eastern Scotland. The Royal
Scotsman takes its time offering a leisurely exploration of the land of heather and
bagpipes.

The Scotsman chugs and hisses through the hills around Tyndrum and then
goes on to Rannoch Manor with its peat bogs, boulders and streams. It passes
Britain's only snowsheds and travels through villages speckled with soft purple hills;
along white sandy beaches; over bridges up to the Isle of Sky; past the battlefield
of Cullen, where Bonnie Prince Charlie's cause was crushed; and down the coast
to Edinburgh.

A companion bus follows, providing transportation to famous houses, castles and
gardens where visitors enjoy champagne and special tours. These excursions might
include stops at Achnacarry, the 13th-century castle restored by Sir Donald
Cameron; Inverawe Fishery and Smokery; and Glamis castle, ancestral
home of the Queen Mother and the legendary setting for "Macbeth." At the
end of each day the train retires to a country station or quiet siding. Most of the
elegant evenings are formal. After-dinner entertainment includes a Scottish fiddler,
live clarsach music and dancing to the tunes of a Highland band. Then it is on to
a night's rest in the Victorian-style sleeping compartments fitted with brass, polished
burl walnut, etched mirrors and private baths.

European luxury train travel has long been the stuff of dreams. Once the means
of transport for royalty, heiresses and more than a spy or two it speaks of mystery
and perhaps intrigue. Today it has become a nostalgic adventure.

The Royal Scotsman train trips are available through Abercrombie & Kent,
800-323-7308.